It was the decision of the German referee Felix Zwayer to leave them shy for the whole second half, something that infuriated Moyes. Aaron Cresswell commits a foul over Moussa Dembele, no doubt, it’s worth it. Kurt Zouma was close to the cover, but Zwayer did not see it that way. Worse still, the cameras caught Dembele turning a blind eye to his teammates for the role he played in the red, giving the best impression of Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2006 World Cup. Nevertheless, West Ham took the lead through the brilliant Jaron Bowen before Tangi Dobele, the loan midfielder from Tottenham, made it 1-1. Moyes will get this, given the circumstances, and the added bonus is that away goals no longer count as doubles in this tournament. There is still hope for West Ham, but it’s all in that second leg at the scary Parc Olympique Lyonnais. When West Ham reached the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup final, Bobby Moore was in charge. For the 1976 final, it was Billy Bonds. Declan Rice, the 23-year-old who wore the armband again last night, is trying to follow these famous steps in the Europa League. However, Rice was walking on a tightrope here. A yellow card and he would lose the second match in Lyon. He could not withstand awkward challenges, strategic fouls, anything that would exclude him from that trip to France when needed. Lyon was a Trojan horse. They arrived in disguise in a team that was sitting ninth in the French Ligue 1 and yet, whenever they attacked, it was ominous. Lucas Paqueta, the Brazilian international, brought his biggest threat in front of the goal. Their first chance came when Paqueta went past Ryan Fredericks before passing for Dembele, although he sent the shot out. A warning to West Ham that Lyon’s low position in the league would mean nothing here. West Ham came close when Craig Dawson’s long diagonal ball collapsed nicely from St. Benrahma, who threw forward and forced Anthony Lopez to repel. Lyon analysts will have studied West Ham’s threat from set phases and so when the crowd waited for Bowen to take a corner, the hosts were surprised. The ball is kicked out of play for Rice on the edge of the box, but his shot goes just wide of the post. West Ham ended the first half disappointed with the referee. In the beginning it was because he fell into the tactics of Lyon for wasting time, blowing every time one of its players fell “injured”. But then their anger increased tenfold when he showed Cresswell his controversial straight red. Dembele ran behind the back line of West Ham but was out. Cresswell fouled the Lyon striker, but Zwayer decided he was denied a clear chance to score. The players protested, claiming that Zuma was there as cover, but did no good. Cresswell left and the cameras caught Dembele winking at his teammates. At halftime, Moyes received a yellow card for shouting at Zwayer. The second half was set to be Lyon’s attack against West Ham’s defense and yet in the 52nd minute they were the previous 10. When Malo Gusto failed to play from the back, Bowen took the opportunity to shoot and throw the ball over Lopes with a helpful save from Jerome Boating. The London Stadium broke out, although this lead lasted only 14 minutes. Lyon repulsed when a low cross hit Fredericks, leaving the ball kindly to Tanguy Ndombele to make it 1-1. Even worse for Moyes’ mood, this cross came from Tete, the Brazilian for whom the West Ham coach complained that he was allowed to play after he went to Lyon from Shakhtar Donetsk on an extraordinary loan. His complaint is that the Premier League clubs did not have the same opportunity. You could cut the tension in the London stadium with a knife as we entered the closing exchanges, especially as eight minutes of delays were announced. Where did everyone guess, although there were two stupid intruders who interrupted the proceedings. They were offered at halftime, West Ham would take the 1-1. Everything is in the second leg of next week. Relive the drama from the surrounding areas with DANIEL DAVIS of Sportsmail …
